Browns' New OC Travis Switzer Sings Praises of Shedeur Sanders

As Shedeur Sanders prepares to compete for the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback job this spring, he seems to have already left an impression on the team's new coaching staff. 

On Thursday, during his first press conference with the media at the team facility, new OC Travis Switzer highlighted Sanders' promising first season and believes the best is yet to come. 

"Shedeur, what he was able to show last year," Switzer said. "He's still young. He has a lot of growth that he can still achieve, especially year one-to-year two, he only started what, six, seven games last year. So yeah, I think there's a lot to be excited about in that room."

In Baltimore, under Monken, Switzer was the run game coordinator, where he had the luxury of utilizing one if the best quarterbacks in football. Ravens star Lamar Jackson is a special talent, and with two MVPs is already considered one if the best dual-threat QBs in NFL history. 

Sanders skillset certainly isn't that of Jackson's. Still, Switzer believes the 2025 fifth-round pick is more than capable of executing the offense to it's full potential.

“He’s certainly mobile enough," Switzer said. "We've seen him get out of trouble. We've seen him make plays. He's certainly mobile enough to do everything that we would want to do."

Being a successful QB in the Browns' new offense isn't about simply being a freak athlete, like Jackson. In fact, Switzer highlighted exactly what traits they're looking for in their starting QB. 

"He's got to be an elite leader and decision maker. That's where it kind of starts," Switzer stated. "Somebody said this, I remember hearing it years ago, it might have been Marino or somebody. As a quarterback, you've got to be able to throw four picks in the first quarter and step into the huddle in the second half, look your guys in the eye and they still believe you can go win the game for them. So that's one of those things that I think you got to have." 

Those are qualities Sanders seems to possess. His rookie season came with plenty of ups and downs in his eight appearances and seven starts. Sanders' tossed more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (7). Through it all, he maintained his supreme confidence and continued to command the huddle. 

That's leadership.

During the pre-draft process last year, Sanders also mentioned his decision-making as his greatest strength as a QB. That didn't necessarily fully translate in his first year in the NFL, but with more reps and more playing time, it's absolutely reasonable to believe that he can clean many of those things up.

Switzer's goal as OC is to ensure he sets Sanders up for success.  

"That's something that Coach says all the time, like, 'Hey, what can he do?' And something Harbs used to say to the guys too, like, 'Everybody's here for a reason. Let's make sure you're elite at what you're elite at,' he said. "We're going to work on everything else, but let's be elite at what you're elite at, because that's what we're going use you for in the majority of those situations."

While Switzer expressed plenty of excitement for what's next for Sanders, it's not exclusive to him. With Monken, there's a real belief in the upside of all three QBs currently employed by the Browns. 

"I'm excited about the guys we have here. I mean Monk said this in his opening press conference, you don't take a job if you're not excited about quarterbacks that are in the building," he explained. "And it's more than one. We're excited about Dillon [Gabriel]. We're excited about Deshaun [Watson]. Anytime you have a guy who has had the success that he's had, he's got to be part of the equation as far as when we talk about competing for that job." 

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